Jason Shoultz: Good evening. Two candidates are vying to represent California’s 7th district in Congress, incumbent Ami Bera and challenger Doug Ose. Tonight, those two men will debate here at the KVIE Television Studios. The one hour live broadcast begins now. Announcement: The Bera-Ose 2014 California Seventh Congressional District Debate, sponsored by Capital Public Radio; the Center for California Studies at Sacramento State; Folsom Lake College; KVIE Public Television; the Los Rios Community College District; and the Sacramento Bee. Jason Shoultz: In less than a month, voters will decide who will represent California’s 7th district in the US House of Representatives. The 7th district is situated in eastern Sacramento County and includes the cities of Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, and Folsom. This close race has attracted lots of national attention, and this is the only scheduled debate between incumbent Democrat Ami Bera and Republican challenger Doug Ose. Representative Bera was elected to the post in 2012. Doug Ose represented California’s 3rd district from 1999 to 2005. The path to Capitol Hill for either of them goes through the KVIE Studios tonight, and gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us. I’m Jason Shoultz, your moderator for the evening, and we have a panel of three journalists who will be questioning the candidates. Let’s meet them now. Marianne Russ, managing editor of Capital Public Radio; Dan Smith, the Sacramento Bee’s Capital Bureau Chief; and Michaela Kwoka-Coleman of Folsom Lake College’s online newspaper, The Talon. Also with us tonight, a studio audience, and they have been asked to save their applause for the conclusion of the debate. It’s my job to make sure the rules are followed, questions are answered, and to keep an eye on the clock. And with that in mind, let’s get started. We will begin with opening statements, and we decided those with a coin toss and we’ll start with representative Bera. You have one minute. Ami Bera: Thank you. I want to thank the moderators here. I want to thank the audience here, and those watching at home. My story always starts with the story of my parents who immigrated here from India in the 1950s. They settled here in California. This is where I’ve lived my whole life. My wife, Janine, and I have been married for 23 years, living right here in Elk Grove for the last 19. Our daughter Sydra just started her senior year of high school. So when I ran for Congress, I ran on three simple promises. I promised to introduce and help pass No Budget, No Pay. A lot of it says if members of Congress don’t do their job and pass a responsible budget, they shouldn’t get paid. I kept that promise. I promised not to take any pay raises, and work across the aisle to get Sacramento County working again. I kept that promise. And I promised not to take a pension, and make sure we protect Social Security from being privatized. I kept that promise. It’s been my honor to be a doctor in our community for the last 19 years, and to be your member of Congress for these past two. Jason Shoultz: Thank you. Now time for Mr. Ose’s opening statement. Doug Ose: Thank you, Jason. When my wife and I sit and talk about the future for our children and our country, we focus in on an optimistic view for America, one that focuses on three or four things: that an individual can make a difference; that hard work pays off; that we’re all in this together, and we need to get to work. Sadly, today, my confidence in our country is shaken because Washington is broken. The economy is not creating jobs, and it’s very uncertain whether it ever will. Obamacare is not working, and it’s costing us jobs, and our water is being sent south. My hope is that we’ll fix those things. Congressman Bera has put politics before people in advocating for things that are adverse to this district. To paraphrase a candidate from 2012, trusting Ami Bera to solve these problems is like trusting a burglar to stay in your house when you’re out of town and expecting your things are there when you get back. Jason Shoultz: Okay, thank you. Your time is up there. Thank you, gentlemen. We appreciate the opening statements. There are no rebuttals for opening statements, I should mention. It is time to move on to questions from the panel. The candidates were not shown these questions in advance, and had no say in deciding the topics for tonight’s debate. Each will have 90 seconds to answer the question. They will also have 30 seconds for rebuttals. Now, we only have an hour, so I’m going to be strictly enforcing those time limits, gentlemen. Our first question by coin toss goes to Doug Ose and will be asked by Marianne Russ. Marianne Russ: Mr. Ose, let’s start with healthcare. You mentioned Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act in your opening statement. You have said you support the repeal of it, but would keep certain aspects such as coverage despite preexisting conditions, but I’m wondering what your plan is for the millions of Californians who now have health insurance under the state’s healthcare exchange or the expansion of Medi-Cal? What would your plan do for them? Doug Ose: Obamacare is failing to address our healthcare needs. In fact, it’s costing us jobs through all sorts of sectors dealing with small business and the like. The president promised that we would be able to keep our doctor, and that promise has proven to be untrue. The president promised that the price of healthcare would go down. That has turned out to not be true. And while there are a couple things within the 3,000 pages of the Affordable Care Act that have merit, the vast majority of the bill is not consistent with the needs of this country. What we need to do is make sure that people can have coverage for pre-existing conditions, that we allow them to shop across state lines to get the best deal, and that we allow them to pick their own doctor. The problem is that Obamacare is killing jobs, and if you don’t have a job, you can’t afford to pay for the health insurance that you so desperately need. I’m in favor of repealing it and replacing it with something that works that doesn’t kill jobs. The other thing that really concerns me about Obamacare is that the legislation strips 716 billion dollars from Medicare, which is a safety net that our seniors have come to rely upon. That’s bad policy. It’s simply bad policy. If I were a senior and my representative were proposing that and defending that, I’d be seriously concerned about whether they really were worried about my interests. Jason Shoultz: Congressman Bera, the Affordable Care Act? Ami Bera: Let’s actually address that matter here claim-first. It’s déjà vu all over again. Two years ago, Congressman Lungren made that same claim. The Sacramento Bee called it a lie. Your ads have made that same claim; the Bee has called it a lie. Congressman, how many times does someone have to call something a lie until you stop telling it? Now, I look at the Affordable Care Act from the perspective of a doctor, and as a doctor, I’ve taken care of far too many patients who may have lost their job and they show up by volunteering at our free clinics for the last 19 years, and they may show up. Maybe they found a breast mass, and you can see the fear on their face and you want to work this up. And I’m frustrated as a doctor when you can’t. Now, the Affordable Care Act is not the solution that I would have come up with as a doctor and a healthcare expert, but it is now the law. So let’s take this law. Let’s fix it and let’s make it better. Let’s address the cost of care. That’s why I’ve worked across the aisle to come up with no-nonsense solutions working with Republicans like the Small Business and Family Relief Act that helps lower the cost of care to the average Sacramento County family. That would be $600 a year on average right back into their pockets. Now, contrast that with what Congressman Ose wants to do. He wants to take us back to a time when health insurance companies were in charge, when women could be charged more than men, where if you had a preexisting illness you could be denied coverage. That’s not progress; that’s taking us backwards. Let’s fix this, let’s make it better, and let’s move forward. Jason Shoultz: Mr. Ose, your opportunity to respond. Doug Ose: Congressman Bera has subscribed to the Washington, D.C. talking points that Nancy Pelosi has given him, and he just shared them with you. The Affordable Care Act strips 716 billion dollars from Medicare funding going forward. That’s not my number; that’s the Congressional Budget Office number. In addition, the consequence of the Affordable Care Act is that people get moved on to Medicaid and doctors are refusing to take Medicaid now because the reimbursements are too low.